Bellusso Jewelers Blog

If you are a watch lover, you may want to consider switching professions. A career in watchmaking can have a hefty payoff. While watchmaking as a profession may sound a bit boring, at first, it actually is quite the contrary. Watchmakers have to be patient and disciplined, yes. But they also have to be creative and curious. To be a master watchmaker, one needs to think outside the box and envision the future of this 500-year-old profession.

The number of professional watchmakers has dwindled over the past decades, especially in America. The upside is that skilled watchmakers are now in high demand.

Most watchmaking schools offer comprehensive courses developed with one of two guiding programs (SAWTA or WOSTEP). Both have strong curriculums that require 3,000 hours of training (two years), and apprenticeships. SAWTA stands for Swiss American Watchmakers Training Alliance, which currently collaborates with the three largest watchmaking schools in the United States, having a combined capacity of 42 students per year. WOSTEP stands for the Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Education Program.

Other schools with a traditional curriculum have degrees that can be accomplished anywhere from a year’s time to 24 months. Many of the schools offer scholarships and full-tuition opportunities. In terms of annual salary, depending on where in America one locates, a watchmaker can earn between $45,000 and $100,000 a year, or more.

If you own a mechanical watch, you need to be aware that magnetism can affect its accuracy. Mobile phones, microwaves and certain electrical instruments can have an effect on the accuracy of a mechanical timepiece, depending on the proximity and duration of exposure. Additionally, certain medical testing equipment can have an adverse effect, which is why patients are often advised to leave their watch at home or in a locker during testing.

Of course, there are watches on the market that are designed to be anti-magnetic. Essentially, an anti-magnetic watch can run with minimal deviation in time tracking when exposed to magnetic fields. The International Organization for Standardization has issued a standard for magnetic resistant watches: ISO 764 Horology - Magnetic. It states that a watch must keep its accuracy to +/- 30 seconds a day to be magnetic resistant.

Among the ways certain brands build anti-magnetic watches include building movement components using alloys that are insensitive to magnetism. Such alloys include Glucydur, Nivarox and Elinvar — which you will find in some of the finest sport and dress watches in the world. They have been used for more than half a century for different parts. Today, many brands are also using alloys for their mainsprings and hair spring, which also helps.

Additionally, some brands avoid the magnetism issue by housing the movement in a soft iron (or similar material) case. This is especially true of pilot watches and sport watches. It should be noted the magnetic fields we encounter day to day are typically not strong enough to do damage to your mechanical watch. If you have a job where you are continually exposed to magnetic fields, stop in and talk to us about the right watch for your wrist that is anti-magnetic and still suits your needs.

Tomorrow marks the first day of summer, and with it comes a host of wonderful outdoor activities — most of which involve water. Before you dive in, make sure the watch on your wrist is ready to take the plunge with you.

Even though a watch may say it is water resistant, it may not be resistant enough — plain and simple. In order for a watch to be classified as water resistant — and to rate the depth to which it can be submerged — it has to undergo rigorous pressure tests. If your watch doesn't say water resistant, it isn't.

If the watch you are wearing says it is water resistant, it will typically have the depth to which it can be worn. It's important to note that watch brands use a number of methods to mark their watches for water resistance, including feet, meters, Bars and ATM (atmospheres). To simplify these terms, we offer some basic breakdowns:

No watch is water resistant to just three feet or 1 meter. Most will say 5 bar, 10 bar, 20 bar and up, for instance. You can find the markings denoting the water resistance of the watch either on the dial or on the caseback.

Generally, a good rule of thumb is if a watch isn't water resistant to at least 50 or 100 feet it shouldn't go in a pool. For instance, if a watch is water resistant to 30 feet, it may not have water-tight gaskets or screw-in crowns, and water could seep inside when the watch is exposed to pressure or direct flow. Our guidelines: We will swim with a watch that has a screw-in crown and is water resistant to at least 200 meters. We will dive with one that is resistant to at least 300 meters. Additionally, never operate the crown or try to set the watch while in the water or while it is wet.

The season of Dads and Grads has arrived and both of these events present perfect opportunities to give the gift of time — in the form of a wristwatch, of course. Even better, we have watches to suit all budgets and all types of fathers and graduates.

Not only are watches a constant reminder to the wearer that you took the time and effort to find the right gift, but also they will think of you each time they glance at their wrist. Additionally, some watches have casebacks that are perfect for engraving a special, heartfelt message.

Maybe the college graduate in your life would like a sporty watch, or has an eye on something a little more dressy, but still casual enough to be worn to work? Perhaps that father of yours — or the father of your children — has a hobby that would be a perfect fit for a chronograph, a water watch or an aviation watch?

Whichever the case, we have the right watch for you, so please stop in and see us soon and we can help to steer you in the right direction, while you buy with confidence.

With Father's Day around the corner, we think it is a good time to take a look at a gift that will track time for him until the year 2100 (at least): a perpetual calendar watch. Essentially, a perpetual calendar watch is a mechanical timepiece that tracks a wealth of calendar information and properly displays it. That information typically includes day of the week, date of the month, leap years and moon phases.

The most important thing to understand about a perpetual calendar watch is that the mechanics inside the watch accurately and automatically track and portray the exact date of the month, whether the month has 28, 30 or 31 days in it. It even accounts for leap year.

Most are built to track time until the year 2100, when they will need to be opened and readjusted by a watchmaker (ideally on March 1) because in the year 2100, we will be skipping our regularly scheduled leap year. Leap years occur every four years, with the exception of century years. There is an exception to the exception, however. If the century year can be divided by 400 (as in 2000), it remains a leap year.

Perpetual calendars are extremely complex and typically hold hundreds of tiny mechanical parts inside. Among those parts are date, day and month wheels, and, in the case of a moon phase indication, a specially made disk. Because of the extensive work that goes into building one, a perpetual calendar watch generally commands higher prices, but these are very popular watches today thanks to the useful functions and classic look. Each watch brand that offers a perpetual calendar has a slightly different design or display. We invite you in to take a look at our perpetual calendars perfect for Father's Day.

Today marks World Oceans Day, which has been celebrated unofficially since its inception in 1992, when objectives were set into place to globally celebrate our waters. In 2008, World Oceans Day was officially recognized by the United Nations. Events focus on cleaning up beaches, working at aquariums and getting involved in charitable causes.

Additionally, certain watch brands support ocean conservation programs and help to raise awareness. Many even create water watches wherein a portion of their proceeds goes to help the oceans or different organizations.

IWC supports several ocean-related projects, including working with the Charles Darwin Foundation in the Galapagos for conservation and preservation there. The brand also works with the Cousteau Society to explore the oceans and to offer discovery under the sea.

Blancpain has been a key supporter of the oceans and established the Blancpain Ocean Commitment program as part of a multi-year effort to help environmental causes. The brand has sponsored many important scientific research programs and continues to dedicate portions of the proceeds of the Fifty Fathoms Ocean Commitment Bathyscaphe watches to support the causes. Because Blancpain has a long relationship in the world of dive watches, the water affiliation makes perfect sense.

If you are a watch lover, you most likely dream of visiting Switzerland, the luxury watch capital of the world. This summer, you may want to indulge yourself, and while there, maybe even visit one of these three top watch museums...

One of our favorites is the Beyer Zurich Clock and Watch Museum, which has hundreds of watches and clocks, as well as early timekeepers, on display. You will marvel at the early clepsydras (water clocks), hour glasses and sundials, and then move forward in time to long case clocks and scientific/navigational instruments. It is in the heart of Zurich and is an easy stop.

If you travel up into La Chaux-de-Fonds, one of the key birthplaces of watchmaking, don't miss the chance to visit the International Watchmaking Museum. Here one can witness automatons, astronomical clocks of yesteryear and more.

Stop three is the Brodbeck Guilloche Museum, which focuses on the tools of watchmaking, with lathes, rose turning machines and other tooling from the 18th to 20th centuries. And as a bonus, if you are hitting Geneva, do not miss Patek Philippe's extensive library of watches, pocket watches, clocks and other instruments from a host of brands.

About the Store

Welcome to Bellusso Jewelers, pure luxury for the discriminating shopper. This romantic terrace-styled row of boutiques is located on the casino level of the Palazzo Hotel, Resort & Casino between the Venetian’s restaurant row and the Palazzo’s grand casino. Sophisticated, elegant and strikingly opulent, Bellusso Jewelers boasts the most stunning array of jewelry and timepieces from some of the most celebrated brand names in the world.